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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22383112">A Moral Imperative</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier'>Brumeier</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Bite Sized Fic 2020 [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe, Stargate Atlantis</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, Mentor/Protégé, Prompt Fill, Roommates</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 16:49:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>756</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22383112</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>LJ Comment Fic for 80s Movies prompt: <i>MCU, Tony Stark, Real Genius</i></p>
<p>In which Tony tries to set his uptight new roommate on the right path toward scientific enlightenment...and partying.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Bite Sized Fic 2020 [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1610332</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Bite Sized Bits of Fic from 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Moral Imperative</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Sit down, kid.”</p>
<p>“I’m not a –”</p>
<p>“Sit.”</p>
<p>Tony pulled his desk chair over and turned it around, sitting in it with his arms across the back. His new roommate, a fifteen-year-old genius named Rodney who had a real stick up his ass, was sitting on his neatly made bed amid piles of neatly pressed shirts. It was sickening.</p>
<p>“I’m gonna show you something very few people get to see.”</p>
<p>Rodney winced and covered his eyes with one hand. “I’d rather not.”</p>
<p>“Relax. It’s not another penis stretcher.” </p>
<p>Tony pulled out his wallet and fished out the picture he kept tucked inside. Himself, Freshman year at Pacific Tech and looking every bit as buttoned-up and nerdy as Rodney. He’d since cultivated a comfortably rumpled fashion style and a kick-ass goatee.</p>
<p>“This is you?” Rodney took the picture and stared at it. “Wow. What happened?”</p>
<p>“I used to be just like you. Wearing my nerdiness on the outside, ensuring I’d die a virgin and alienate everyone but other nerdy nerds.” Tony had still been fighting for his father’s approval back then. “And then I had a vision.”</p>
<p>“Was it the sun-god thing with the little pickles?” Rodney asked uncertainly. He handed back the picture.</p>
<p>“No. It was Hollyfeld.”</p>
<p>“The guy in the closet?”</p>
<p>“Lazlo Hollyfeld. You think you’re a genius, Brainiac? He puts us both to shame.”</p>
<p>Tony told Rodney how he’d followed Lazlo into the steam tunnels, tracked him down to his lair. And because his own curiosity knew no bounds, he’d actually talked to the guy. Tony had learned that Lazlo, back when he was a student at Pacific Tech himself, had invented something amazing. Something that he was later told was killing people. He’d snapped, because the science was all he had and he didn’t know how to cope.</p>
<p>“That’s a stupid story,” Rodney said, crossing his arms and thrusting out his chin defiantly. “It doesn’t have anything to do with me.”</p>
<p>“You have to loosen up, Sergeant Preston. Learn that science isn’t the answer to everything. Or you’ll burn yourself out like Lazlo did. Like I almost did.”</p>
<p>It was a hard-won lesson, but Tony knew he was better for it. Science was meant to be fun. He wanted to use it to make the world better, to make people happier, their lives easier. Learning not to take himself so seriously had been a big step in the right direction. </p>
<p>Rodney looked torn. Tony had been watching him the last few weeks. The kid was killing himself trying to be the top of his class, trying to be better and smarter than all the other super smart kids on campus. And especially trying to impress his professors. In some ways it was harder for Rodney than it had been for Tony, because he was so much younger than the other students.  </p>
<p>When Tony had learned that the new incoming Freshman had built a working nuclear bomb for his sixth-grade science fair, he’d made sure they roomed together. If Rodney could get out of his own head, he had the potential to be pretty awesome.</p>
<p>“Think of it this way, kid. If you don’t learn to take a break and use your big brain for other things, you’ll never have great breakthroughs. All the best thinking happens outside the box.”</p>
<p>Rodney seemed to deflate suddenly. “I don’t know how to do that. My parents…they expect things to be done a certain way.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, I know a little bit about that.” Tony stood up and pushed the chair aside. “Take advantage of my experience. I won’t steer you wrong. Probably.”</p>
<p>“What do I have to do?”</p>
<p>“This’ll be a good start.” Tony scooped up some of Rodney’s neatly pressed shirts and simply tossed them in the air. </p>
<p>After a moment, Rodney did the same, looking terrified and exhilarated all at once. Soon his side of the room was starting to look as messy as Tony’s.</p>
<p>“Now what?”</p>
<p>“Now? A party. With girls. It’s a moral imperative!”</p>
<p>Tony hooked an arm around Rodney’s neck and dragged him out of the room. He had a plan that involved lasers, an inflatable pool, and student beauticians from the Wanda Trossler School of Beauty down the road. The Pacific Tech nerds needed all the advantages they could get.</p>
<p>Rodney was already a genius. Under Tony’s tutelage, he could be so much more. After all, Tony was graduating in a few months. He needed a worthy successor.</p>
<p>By the end of his Freshman year, Rowdy Roddy McKay was that person.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p><b>AN:</b> I can’t help it, I love putting Rodney in Pacific Tech! This is the second time I’ve had him there with Tony Stark. I liked the idea of Tony helping Rodney bring forth his inner snarkmaster. ::grins::</p></blockquote></div></div>
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